A touch screen that displays a brand's flavors, such as Minute Maid light lemonade in a choice of choice of cherry, orange, raspberry or strawberry.

One newly available flavor, Orange Coke, which previously had been sold only in Russia and the Baltics, said Vince Voron, senior director of industrial design at Coca-Cola.

Those ubiquitous soft-drink dispensers in fast-food restaurants may soon go the way of the portable CD player.

This summer, Coca-Cola is rolling out a new generation of drink dispensers that let customers use a touch screen to choose from more than 100 varieties instead of the usual six or so.

If you've ever had a hankering to try Orange Coke, Peach Fanta or Strawberry Sprite — flavors that have never before been sold in the United States — now's your chance.

The new machines are being test-marketed in San Diego and Atlanta, Coca-Cola's corporate headquarters.

Officially called the Coca-Cola Freestyle, the machines are being installed in 10 Jack in the Box restaurants along state Route 78 in north San Diego County.

Beginning in August, the machines will also appear in 10 other restaurants throughout the county, including some El Pollo Loco, Pei Wei Asian Diner, Subway, Carl's Jr. and Noodles & Co. locations.

“It's like the iPod of drink machines,” said Gene Farrell, vice president of the Jet Innovation Program for Coca-Cola North America. “We're essentially reinventing the dispensed beverage business.”

Americans are expected to buy nearly $121 billion of soft drinks — which include carbonated beverages, sports drinks, bottled water and juices — in 2009, according to Datamonitor, a market research firm, in New York.

Beverages sold at restaurants account for about 30 percent of Coca-Cola's North American business, Farrell said.

With serious profits at stake, development of the new dispensers, which took four years and cost more than $100 million, was a closely guarded secret.

Company officials code-named the project Jet, short for Jet d'Eau, a water fountain in Geneva, Switzerland, that was a technological marvel when it was installed in 1886, the same year the first Coca-Cola flowed from soda fountains in drugstores.

To create the stylized refrigerator-sized machine, Coca-Cola partnered with DEKA Research and Development, whose founder, Dean Kamen, invented the Segway and several medical devices.

One of the hurdles for designers was trying to create a high-tech device that was fun and easy to use without reminding people of an “ATM or a computer,” said Vince Voron, senior director of industrial design at Coca-Cola who was recruited from Apple to work on the project.

While the older-style drink machines use 5-gallon bags of syrup that are then mixed with water and carbonation, the new machines use concentrated flavor cartridges a little larger than a video cassette tape.

Each night, the machines will transmit detailed data to Coca-Cola on what brands sold and at what time of the day. Already, they've discovered that the popularity of Caffeine-Free Diet Coke spikes after 3 p.m., Farrell said.

Along with about 15 brand icons, the touch screen also includes a “water” option, meaning customers will still be able to fill up their cups with plain-old free water. Customers order and pay for their drinks at the register, the same as always.

Yesterday morning, Jack in the Box customers on South Melrose Drive in Vista, were intrigued by the new machine. “It's pretty futuristic,” said J.D. Kyle, 20, of Carlsbad, who chose his usual, a Diet Coke. “It's kind of confusing.”

Jill Holder, 33, of Escondido was looking forward to changing up her usual Coke. “It's cool. It doesn't take up as much room. It seems to be easy to use and there's a lot more choice,” Holder said. “It's taking us into the future, like something you'd see on TV.”